Social Impact Assessment of Microfinance Programmes - weman

to Regional Managers as the organization expands. Due to this, Asasah turnover is only
2-3 percent and staff seldom leave according to their own will and this attests to their
mission of keeping employees motivated.
Staff for new branches are hired by advertisement on cable, college notice boards,
hospitals and bank notice boards. New staff first start as interns and if their performance
is adequate, they are made permanent. In case any employee is not performing well they
are put on probation for 3 months. If their performance does not improve they are given
long leave. Asasah’s management tries to evaluate the problem thoroughly before
dismissing any staff.
The educational requirement for a CDO is Intermediate or Matric with experience.
Positions of BMs are only filled through internal promotion. Asasah does not hire local
staff and bring CDOs from other areas as they feel the locals put too much pressure on
CDOs from their own areas.
The target for CDOs is to handle 400-450 clients, and for each branch that translates to
1800 clients. However, currently the caseload per CDO is 232 and the reason is the
expansion plans due to which new CDOs have been hired who have not reached their
productivity potential. The borrowers per staff are 67 and this is also much lower than the
industry average of 147. Again the reason is that Asasah has been expanding staff for the
expansion plans and in time as outreach increases, the statistics will improve as well.
Previously, at the branch there used to be 10 CDOs and they could only mobilize four or
five groups and the BM also had trouble handling the large number of subordinates. With
the new arrangement of four CDOs, incentives make staff more efficient and also ensure
that BMs can effectively monitor the portfolio and resolve outstanding staff concerns.
3.1.5.2 Strategic Initiatives
Asasah has an aggressive marketing strategy and employs various forms of electronic and
print media to market its products. Some of the methods used are TV cable
advertisements, brochures, banners, stickers, staff in uniform, wall-chalking and
standardized branch appearance. CDOs gather crowds in market areas and hold
community meetings and advise them to tell their neighbours as well. Furthermore, at
each branch only two products are offered so that specialized services can be provided.
Asasah regularly undertakes market research to see what products are being demanded in
the market. The outcome of this research has been the Livestock loan, Micro Leasing and
Small Business Finance. Currently two more products are under study, one is a loan for
education expenses and the other is for health expenses.
The motivation behind introducing new products has always been demand in the market.
Asasah regularly holds Focus Group Discussions to gauge client satisfaction. The idea
behind SBF’s launch was an individual contacting them for a loan. Asasah undertook
research on the idea and found good prospects for it. Similarly, when poorer people asked
for loans, those that did not satisfy the conditions for the productive loan, the protective
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